A Connecticut castle was made for a harem of women. Then Jon Ronson visited.

Key Points:

• Jon Ronson’s new book, The Castle: Adventures in a World of Unraveling Men, explores the manosphere through the story of Chris Mark, a wealthy man who built a castle to host a harem of women and allegedly abused them, symbolizing broader issues of male identity and aggression in a changing world.
• Ronson argues that many men in the manosphere are driven by a loss of purpose and a complex relationship with shame, where refusing to feel appropriate shame leads to increased misogyny and disinhibition.
• The book combines investigative journalism with cultural analysis, highlighting how men struggle to adapt to shifting gender roles and societal expectations, often resulting in troubling behaviors and ideologies.
• While The Castle paints a grim picture of toxic masculinity, Ronson finds some hope in examples of men showing vulnerability and in cultural spaces like the UFC, where traditional masculinity is being renegotiated.
• Ronson’s work appeals largely to a female audience interested in understanding masculinity’s crises, though he acknowledges that men entrenched in the manosphere are unlikely to engage with his critiques.